A bitch doesn’t even give a shit about the Republican who beat him…my ass intends to enjoy 24 hours of Ralph motherfucking Reed kicked to the curb and uninvited to the dance schadenfreudal bliss!

Fantabulous.

Moving forward into the world of policy...

Leaving some chil'ren behind...House Republicans have unveiled a new education plan. Yes, a bitch shuddered at the thought too. But it gets worse.

The house gave birth to a $100 million dollar school voucher plan…and where the fuck did they find $100 million dollars?

Anyhoo, that baby is ugly as a motherfucker.Vouchers are like that e-mail Spam. They have a really good hook that captures your attention. Who wouldn’t want to inherit $200 million dollars from a long lost relative who recently died in Bulgaria or help out a recently widowed Nigerian woman who just needs to filter some cash through your bank account & is willing to pay you once the checks cash?

But, much like the deal of the century spam mail I get everyday, if it looks too good to be true it most definitely is.

Vouchers assume that poorly performing schools can not be brought up to par.

Translation for the neo-con trolls in the crowd - they represent a cut and run attitude towards education reform that results in the mission not being accomplished.

The voucher solution disregards 100 years of public school education in lieu of the 'it’s cheaper to toss it' notion of education policy. On the surface, a voucher for a student who is attending a shit public school that would allow her to attend a fantastical private school seems awesome. For many it is way too sexy to pass up. But beneath the bandage there is a funky smell…a stink that is all too familiar.

Yep, that's bullshit.

A bitch suspects that vouchers are an attempt to attack and destroy public school education as we know it.

But why, you ask, would anyone want to destroy public school education?

That’s not really the right question, though. Shouldn’t it be…what are the benefits of destroying public education?

Hmmm.

No more unions…and pesky union members…asking for shit like raises and vacations.

No argument against local control of the curriculum! Evolution? Out. Fake science pulled out of Dobson's ass on a whim? Go tell it on the moutain!

No more arguments against prayer in schools. Private schools can simply dictate and require. Think of the time saved and the cult of neo-conservatism recruitment possibilities!

Sex education? Nope. Just say no to the big O? Bring it on!

Reading comprehension? Maybe, but isn’t that really a parent’s right issue (wink)?

And it goes on and on and on.

Public education ended over 100 years of education being the exclusive experience of the rich. It truly is a cornerstone of our democracy. Poor people, rural workers, minorities and women all pushed through a previously locked door and got their education on.

Educating is like baseball.

You throw the ball, you catch the ball and you hit the ball (blantant nod to Bull Durham).Scooter B.’s education policy has created a void in learning that makes vouchers seem appealing.

The way I see it, if kids are being left behind and clearly don’t know the fundamentals mayhap it’s time to give the coach the boot.

And why do I get the impression Margaret Spellings has W is for Women tattooed on her ass?

Someone needs to do a feminist intervention…well, ummm...she may be too far gone already.

17 comments:

georgia also kicked state senator mike crotts to the curb yesterday. he was one of the sponsors of the state constitutional amendment to ban marriage between people of the same biological sex (state senate resolution 595). 2 down...

craig...a bitch gave a wee nod to that violation of personal space yesterday at the end of my posted thoughts on Scooter B speaking to the NAACP. Lawd, there are so many violations its hard to keep up!

Vouchers are, as you say, basically the leading wedge of another ill-advised privatization scheme. The idea seems to gain a lot of traction from the fact that most parents are not willing to wait for the system to improve while their own children are being educated with the current system. I know plenty of folks as progressive as you please sending their kids to everything from Montessori schools to Catholic schools because, when it comes right down to it, they are more interested in their child receiving the best possible education (as they perceive it) than they are in improving opportunities for children other than their own.

Can't say I necessarily blame them either, but it does make them vulnerable to manipulative tactics like voucher schemes that promise to send you free money to send your child to the school of your choice. If they would read the fine print (it's between the lines) they might notice that the money to do this is being taken out of public school funding and that, once the public schools predictably become a lost cause after years of willful neglect, the voucher schemes themselves will be de-funded, leaving quality education available only for the wealthy.

Thank you for translating for the neo-cons in the audience. Apparently cut-and-run is an appropriate strategy when dealing with programs that help children, the poor, and poor children, but not programs that bomb children, the poor, and poor children.

And thank you for counteracting some of the outrage fatigue I get while thinking about the middle east debacles, Scooter B's misguided policies, and President Scooter's mind-numbing reasons for all the stupid shit he does and says. It's enough to make a man curl into a fetal position and rock the blues away...

I guess if you're supposed to do the one thing you're good at, GWB is excelling at being a colossal failure. *grumble* frat boys who can't make a profit off oil in Texas *mumble* or a baseball team handed to them on a silver platter *grrr* and has the SCOTUS hand them the reigns to our country...

...and you know what is the funniest thing about this whole ridiculous voucher idea, last Friday, the White House announced ever so quietly that public schools and private schools fare the nearly the same overall .

And some of us eat up their bullshit about the needed demise of the public school system like free chicken at the swap meet.

But on a lighter note...

if I see one more idiot in a beater with a bunch of W stickers on his car, I'm going to pull up to a light, reach through that fools window punch him dead in the face...

Not to mention this article from less that one week ago, stating that once you adjust for racial, economic and social factors, private schools are really no better than public schools. PLUS the added note that the schools that fare the worst are...hold onto your hats, please......Conservative Christian schools!

As a history buff, I am increasingly frightened by how people's lack of knowledge and lack of awareness of history is causing them to make choices that will eventually impact all of us. People really do not have a clue.

I totally agree with you that vouchers are part of an organized plan to get rid of public education, but I'll take it a step further with my particular paranoid vision. I think it's a conspiracy to make sure that the people of America are uneducated and divided. Public schools do more than educate: They give people shared experiences. Kids being pulled out into unregulated private schools or homeschooled are not getting those experiences. It's a lot easier to mislead a divided, ignorant populace.

One bright light . . . unless the results are "re-counted," Alabama voters just elected the first openly gay person to the state legislature. Of course, that could be offset by one of the most conservative people now running for Lt. Gov.

I agree with all of the conspiracy theorists on this matter, the government is trying to make us much more dumber. However, I also think that secretly George Bush is conspiring with aliens to wipe out the minorities in this country. Are there any opinions on this valid idea?

First, well done on the voucher plan breakdown, a bitch. COuldn't have said it better myself.

Second, Nicole you are not a crazy conspiracy theorist. That's exactly what it's about. White/Conservatives have been protesting any tax money going to poor, darker skinned school districts. It's the sure fire way to keep the status quo, and the status quo is what got them in power.